ACME Instruments

Never seen one of these Crest branded Magnatones before. It was close to a Starlet model, and I converted it from a power transformerless ‘widow-maker’ circuit to a more conventional Varsity #108, the step up model from the same time period. Inspiration 💯 belongs to Skip from thanks fellas! All that was needed was the addition of a power transformer, and a minimal number of other changes. I’ll get some guts shots together now that I’m done tweaking👨🏻‍🔬super happy with the results!

In appreciation of Oliver amps, here’s a short love story. Sometime in the early nineties I happened upon my first Powerflex(thanks !) and I was hooked, instantly obsessed with these rare creations of Jess Oliver, tube amp visionary and the genius behind the Ampeg B-15. Fast forward 30 years and I’ve collected, repaired, and flipped many of the various models he built both under his own brand and for Sam Ash NYC. ‘Never have I ever’ chanced across the top lil’ cutie, easily the cheapest model yet, presumably made to order for Sam Ash. This showed up on my bench in truly rust bucket condition, it had clearly been very damp in the distant past and needed A LOT of L-U-V. Both tone pots were frozen and worse yet the set screws on all three k***s were rusted in place as well. When I tried loosening the two chassis bolts they sheared off in a shower of rusty dust, the bottom shielding plate was more rust that steel as well. Remarkably after a grip of new parts and some serious elbow grease it roared back to life. The OT is the smallest I’ve seen in an Oliver and looks to be the same part used in the Ampeg Gemini series. The inputs are pure Ampeg -Bass, Guitar, and Accordion/Mike. The Guitar Jack has a bright cap, the Accordion is the hottest of the three, and the Bass is Classic B-15 vibes all day long. For maybe 25W out of two 6L6s this is a very versatile Swiss army amp that plays well with every cab I’ve paired it with, from an SVT 8x10 to a Marshall 4x12. And naturally it’s a Killa bass rig…

Calling all Seattle area Jazz Punx! If yer a fan of groovy instrumental jams with plenty of heart and soul check out this show. Monday the 27th in Belltown at Madame Lou’s in the new Croc. 6:30 doors, 7:30 🎼 music 🎶 it’ll be my first show since Covid and I’m stoked!